William bbuce



(No Model.)

W. BRUCE.

FIRE ESCAPE.

N0. 390,446. Patented Oct. 2, 1888.

I'll-Iii [III Juries,

PATENT WILLIAM BRUCE, OF \VELLSVILLE, NEV YORK.

Fl FEE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,446, dated October2, 1888.

(No model.)

T0 or. whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BRUCE, acitizen of the United States, and aresident of \Vellsvillc, in the county of Allegany and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghadto the accompanying d rawings, which form a part of this specification,and in which- Figure l is a perspective view of my improved fire-escapeas adjusted from the roof of a building, and Fig. 2 is a similar viewshowing the device as adjusted from a window.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in both thefigures.

My invention has relation to improvements in fire-escapes; and itconsists in providing a device of such construction that the workingpartst-hereof may be protected from the injurious effects of the weatherwhen not in use, and, when occasion demands its employment, to bereadily adjusted in operative position with but the smallest expenditureof labor and time being necessary; and to this end it con sists in theimproved construction and arrangement of parts of the same, ashereinafter more fully described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 represents the shed or coverof my improved device when operated from the roof, and 2 the upright orstandard arranged within said cover or shed near the inner edge of thewall of the building. The upright or standard 2 is provided with a hookor its equivalent, 3, to

which is attached a rope, 4., which passes downward in a slanting orinclined direction to a short beam, 5, spiked or otherwise secured tothe ground, and is there secured to an eye or staple, G, in said beam.Pulley blocks 7 7, furnished with hooks or eyes 8 8, are secured tostaples 9 9 in the upright and arranged one above the other and about afeet apart, hook 3, with respect to staples 9 9, occupying a po sitionto the left of the lower staple.

Passing over the sheaves or pulleys arranged within the blocks 7 7 is arope, 10. One end of this rope, after passing over the pulleys in themanner described, passes down. in an in clined or slanting direction andthrough a pulley, 11, secured to beam 5, and thence over a roller, 12,on said beam into the hands of persons operating the device.

The numeral 13 represents the car or basket of the escape, which isprovided with a pulleyblock, 14, the sheave or pulley thereof slidingupon the stationary inclined rope 4.. This pulley-block 14 is alsoprovided with a hook or eye, 15, to which the short end of theoperating-rope 10 is attached.

Fig. 2 represents a modified construction of my improved escape,adapting the same to be used from a window of a dwelling, and consistssimply in employinga crossbar, l6,which is constructed with one end bentor hooked to engage a hookcye, 17, screwed into one side of the casingor frame of the Window, and having the other end straight, so as to passthrough a screweye, 18, v in the opposite side of the frame; or it isobvious that any other form may be used without departing from thespirit of my invention-as, for instance, providing both ends of thecross-bar with hooks engaging screw-eyes in opposite sides of the frame.

Secured to the cross-bar in a slanting position is a beam, 19, havingscreweyes 2O 20 passing through the same and secured on the outer sideof the beam by locking-nuts 21 21. These latter screw eyes form aconvenient means of securing the beam to the crossbar, it only beingnecessary to first pass the crossbar through said screw-eyes, afterwhich the bar may be easily adj usted to the window. This inclined beam19 is provided with similar appliances as the upright or standard2-viz., with a hook or its equivalent, to which is attached the rope 4,said rope passing down to the short beam 5 and there secured to the eyeor staple 6 in said beam, and also with the pulley-blocks 7 7, furnishedwith hooks or eyes 8 S, secured to the staples 9 9, screwed in saidinclined beam, and having the rope 10 passing over the sheaves of saidpulley-blocks in exactly the same manner as when operated from the roofof the building.

Vhen my device is not in use, the rope and tackle are all placed underthe projecting shed or cover, thereby preventing them from being damagedby exposure to the weather, or kept in the room near the window at whichit is to be operated.

When a fire is discovered and it becomes necessary to employ the device,all that is required of those on the roof is to throw the free ends ofthe ropes 4 and to the ground, in order that they may be properlyadjusted to the pulley and roller; or, the cross-bar with inclined beambeing adjusted at the window, the ends of the rope may in like manner bethrown to the street.

Two or more persons may enter the basket from the roof or from thewindow, and their descent is regulated by persons on the street below,who, having the end of the operatingrope 1O intheir hands, can governthe descent by simply walking toward the frame or short beam 5. Thebasket is of course again raised simply by a reverse operationviz., bythe operators walking away from the beam 5.

This device, it will be seen, is simple, strong, safe, practical, andcheap. It can be most readily adjusted when necessary, and its workingparts are thoroughly protected when not in use. In point of safety itpossesses supe rior advantages, and it is obvious that there is but verylittle risk to the occupants of the same The combination of the windowcasing or frame provided on opposite sides with screweyes, the cross-barhaving a bent end, the inclined beam provided with a hook andpulleyblocks, the eyebolts passing through said inclined beam and havingtheir ends screwthreaded, so as to receive lookingnuts, the street frameor beam provided with a hook or eye, a pulley-block, and a roller, thestationary rope, the escape basket or car provided with a pulley-block,said block having an eye or hook, and the operating-rope, substantiallyas and for the purpose shown and set forth.

In testimony thatIclaim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM BRUCE.

\Vitnesses:

ELISHA GREEK,

WM. WAcK.

